Pokémon Thief, Jake
by Picatsu
Summary: A phobia of wild pokemon renders Jake unable to gain new pokemon. So how is Jake supposed to grow as a trainer? The only thing left for him is to steal other trainer's pokemon. He does it out of his necessity. His pokemon journey will be much harder than most; he will to grow strong as a trainer while avoiding the trainers he steals from. But Jake is ready to go into thievery.
1. Chapter 1

Jake approached Lumiose City, exhilaration in his heart; he would soon be at the City of Light itself, the metropolis of the Kalos region. The Prism Tower awaited him, as well as museums and five-star restaurants. There would be hundreds of people there. So many!

However, one thing dampened his mood. A lot of those people would be pokemon trainers. As Pokemon trainers, they would be ready to battle or trade. What did Jake have for battle or trade? A simple scatterbug. He need a new, better Pokemon. A simple scatterbug would not let Jake meet the challenges he would face in the city.

Jake slowed his pedaling and observed the nearby forest. The treetops shined with green verdancy, and flowers covered the forest floor. For most people, it would be easy to go into this forest and catch a few grass-type pokemon.

It was not easy for Jake to do the same.

Though it was a the main method of getting new pokemon, Jake could not catch wild ones. He had a deathly fear of wild pokemon, a fear that could almost be classified as a phobia. This fear was created by an event that had happened to Jake rather recently. Despite its recentness, Jake had wiped the incident out of his memory. But he still had the fear, and he didn't know why. Now he wouldn't be able catch any more wild pokemon, even a scatterbug.

This left Jake with few options of obtaining new pokemon. He could go to one of those places that give a pokemon to starting trainers, but he didn't know of one. Even if he did, they would only give him a single one; two pokemon were not sufficient for a journey. He couldn't purchase a Pokemon. That was likely illegal. If he got someone else to catch a pokemon for him, it would become attached to the other person.

That left Jake with a last resort—steal another trainer's Pokemon. It was like catching wild pokemon, but they weren't as aggressive, hostile, or sporadic. Mentally, it was much easier for Jake. He had to do it. He knew it was wrong, and he knew it would hurt the other trainers. But Jake had no other way because of his phobia. He would only catch enough as needed for his journey, he assured himself. No more than that.

When Jake came from his thinking, he was surprised by his surroundings. The Prism Tower used to be a spire in the distance. It had gotten much closer. The wheels of Jake's bike no longer rolled over grass and dirt road—they were upon a street in the grand Lumiose City.

A smile grew on Jake's face. Then it quickly died. Jake knew that he would soon be a thief, and it killed him. As a trainer, he felt inferior to all of the other ones there. They had caught their pokemon, and their pokemon were strong, well-trained and loved. Jake had a scatterbug that he loved but couldn't train properly due to his fear, and he would have to steal pokemon due to his fear as well. What kind of trainer was he?

"Hey, you're new!" A trainer came from his side, a glowing smile on his face. "Where are you from?"

"I'm... from Shalour. Shalour City," Jake r.

"Sweet!" the trainer said, "Did you already beat Korrina? I'm having trouble, because most of my pokemon are normal types. Weak against fighting."

"I actually just started my journey."

"Oh, did you? Well, you chose a good place to start. Lumiose City is the best! There's so much stuff to do. I'm here to beat the gym leader, but I keep getting distracted. Oops, I guess I forgot to introduce myself..."

Jake tuned the trainer out and broke eye contact with him. This guy could hold a conversation with a wall. Jake's eyes wandered for a bit, then settled on the frogadier by the trainer's feet. If he was going to steal a pokemon, Jake thought it might as well be then. He wanted to get over with it.

Jake slipped his hand into his pocket and fumbled for a pokeball. His heart and stomach felt like they emptied themselves, a sort of moral block that prevented him from throwing the pokeball. Jake closed his eyes and hesitated. Soon, the feeling subsided. He tossed the pokeball at the frogadier.

The frogadier was absorbed in a flash of red light. Before the trainer could react, Jake had leaned on his bike and just barely grabbed the squirming ball. Then he hurriedly pedaled away.

"Hey—what?" the trainer said from behind, "Did you just—hey! That kid just stole my pokemon! Thief!"

"I'm... I'm sorry!" Jake feebly said back.

One hand holding the pokeball and the other holding the bike's handles, Jake steered into a nearby alleyway. He had thought it would be a simple ride through the narrow alley, but there was a tall gate that prevented him from biking through. He couldn't turn around; they would get him if he did that.

Jake hated to do it, but he got off his bike and left it on the ground. Then he climbed atop the dumpster and jumped on the gate, which he slowly scaled.

"That's him! Right there!" Footsteps sounded at the end of the alley. "We need to get him!"

Clenching his teeth, Jake finally got over the fence and dropped down. It was a long fall, and he stumbled upon landing. He quickly regained himself. He heard people trying to climb the gate as well. After giving another apology to the trainers, Jake held the pokeball tightly and dashed again.

Freedom was at the end of the alley, it seemed to Jake. He wiped the sweat from his face and neared the exit. Guilt rose from within him, and he let out a sigh. But Jake wasn't truly free, and when he emerged a hand reached for him and grabbed his hood.

"I've got him! I've got him!" the girl called, "Come quick!"

Like a pokemon, Jake used Struggle. He jerked and kept trying to push her away. Finally, he attempted to sprint away. Like a pokemon that used Struggle, Jake took recoil damage by falling backwards.

"Let me go!" Jake turned and pried at her fingers. "You've got the wrong person!"

"Oh, yeah?" She pointed at Jake's hand. "Why do you have pokeball? You stole it!"

"It-it's my scatterbug!" Furtively, Jake grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie and worked to pull his arm in.

"Hah! Is that why you steal? Because you only have a scatterbug?"

"...no, it's not!" He glanced at the alley. The other trainers were making their way down the gate...

"Pathetic!" she said, and pulled at his hood.

"You're the pathetic one!" Jake retorted.

"And what do you mean by that, hmm?"

"I mean this!"

Jake yanked his hoodie over his head. This freed himself from the girl's grip, and he zipped away with a burst of speed. The girl stared at the unoccupied hoodie for a moment, then she ran after Jake shouting "Get back here!".

There was a way to another route down the street. It was the way to Route Four. Jake looked downwards with his eyes shut as he ran for it. The thought of returning the frogadier crossed his mind. Maybe he should just give it back, apologize, and never steal again. He would just quit being a pokemon trainer. He just wasn't fit for it anymore.

But Jake dispelled all of these thoughts; he desired to become a master trainer and beat the Pokemon League. If this was the only way that could happen, so be it. It was a way of thievery to become more powerful, a way of necessity. It was selfish and wrong, he knew. But he didn't know—couldn't remember why he had a phobia of wild pokemon. It was unfair to him, he thought, so he would be unfair to others.

As soon as Jake made it to Route Four, he became a pokemon thief on the run.


	2. Chapter 2

The threat of the other trainers were gone. Jake had hidden within the trees of Route Four until they gave up and returned to the city. Inside, Jake was being assailed by a horrible mixture of guilt and sympathy; guilt because he had done something wrong, and sympathy because the trainer he had stolen from had cried that his pokemon journey was over.

Jake slowly strolled down the exquisitely designed garden path, Route 4. It was evening when he had stolen the frogadier, and now it was night. The greens and pinks of the bushes of the flowers brightened up the darkness, and elevated Jake's crestfallen mood.

Jake still felt inferior and illegitimate as a trainer. He was a bad trainer and a thief. However, he had to suppress these feelings so he could think about his journey. Since he now had an actual start to his journey, getting a starter pokemon, he could now battle other trainers and strengthen his pokemon. He could train his scatterbug in double battles with his frogadier.

Maybe if he had gotten a starter pokemon when he began, he wouldn't have had to steal, Jake thought. He could be one of those trainers that only raise a single pokemon with a super powerful bond. But he wasn't fortunate enough to live near a lab to get a starter (to get his scatterbug, he saved his allowance to buy pokeballs then threw them at a scatterbug in his yard), and even if he did he knew he would have still stolen because of his fear.

Jake stopped to admire the nearby fountain. The water gleamed in the moonlight as it streamed down. He stood there, and lost himself in thought.

"Hey, you! Wanna pokemon battle?" A trainer ran up to him.

"Er, no, sorry." Jake didn't stop looking at the fountain.

"Aw, come on! You're not doing anything!"

"I'm... thinking."

"That's not doing anything! Let's go!"

Jake then said nothing, and tried to ignore them. However, the trainer was not content. They kept on pestering and insisting on a pokemon battle. So finally, Jake agreed, just to use his new frogadier. The two distanced themselves apart. Both trainers reached into their bags and grabbed one of their Pokéballs. Jake made sure to grab his frogadier. Then each trainer hurled their pokeball to ground, and they opened with flashes of light. The other trainer's pokemon was an absol.

The trainer wasted no time. "Absol, use Night Slash!"

"Dodge it, Frogadier!" Jake ordered on reaction.

However, the frogadier didn't even attempt to avoid the move. It got hit by Night Slash and was sent sliding back.

"Frogadier, get up!" Jake called, "Use Water Gun!"

The frogadier didn't obey Jake, and instead used Leer. Leer was useless and not the move that needed to be used in that situation, so the other trainer quickly told his absol to attack. The absol tackled frogadier to the ground.

"Frogadier, get up with Agility!"

The frogadier responded with a defiant noise, and didn't use agility.

"Absol, finish him off with Crunch!"

The absol bit into Frogadier, and the battle was over; Frogadier had fainted. Jake was completely mortified. The frogadier hadn't obeyed him! The other trainer called his absol off with a smug smirk on his face.

"Dang. Your frogadier really sucks," the trainer remarked.

"You have nothing good to say; stop talking," Jake retorted.

"Nevermind, I take that back; it's the trainers fault. You suck." He put his hands on his hips.

"Just... shut up." Jake returned his frogadier to its pokeball.

"You're just a bad trainer with a good pokemon." The trainer raised his chin. "Your frogadier would be much better off with me."

"Would it, now?" Jake crossed his arms and neared him. "Why don't you do something about it?"

"Hah! What do you mean? I'm not some pokemon thief."

"Well, guess what?" Jake thrusted a pointing finger at the trainer. "I am, and your absol would be better off with me."

Before the trainer even comprehended what Jake was implying, Jake had grasped a pokeball in his hand and slammed it on the absol to absorb it. Since the pokeball was in his hand, Jake didn't have to take all the time picking it up the floor like last time. So he escaped with the absol with little resistance from the other trainer.

"Get back, loser! Get back!" the trainer called, "You're going to get caught!"

Jake paid the foreboding statement no mind as he ran off into the night. This time, he didn't even feel guilty about stealing; the trainer was a pest. He hadn't planned to steal another pokemon until his journey called for it, but the kid forced his hand. It was quite easy for Jake to steal pokemon (he had been surprised by the simplicity the first time), and he didn't want to get addicted to it or something like that.

Pokeball wiggling in his hands, Jake hid within some bushes. Jake thought that it would be impossible to see him in the middle of night. He would just stay there until the trainer gave up. And so he waited.


	3. Chapter 3

The trainer did not give up.

He kept running around, shouting, and calling out thief. He hasn't even gotten close to Jake's location yet. By now, Jake was half way to falling asleep. When would this kid just quit?

"Hey, what happened?" a girl's voice asked, "You said there was a thief?"

"Yeah, yeah! He stole my absol!" the trainer replied.

"He stole my friends frogadier, too!"

That was the girl from before, Jake realized. What was she doing here? He gassed she hain't given up either...

"He-he used a frogadier in the battle we fought..."

"Oh, my... how long ago was it? Where did he run off to?"

"It was just now! He ran off that way!" The voice traveled towards Jake's direction.

"Quick, we have to find him to get your absol back..."

His body tensed, but he quickly relaxed. They still wouldn't be able to find him, Jake assured hmself. As long as he stood perfectly still, and made no noise...

Then his pokeball clicked, the one containing absol. Usually that would be a positive sound, a sound indicating he caught a new pokemon. But in this moment, Jake might as well have callied his location out.

"That's him!" the girl said, "Hurry, find him!"

Jake tried to work his way out of the bushes and sprint off, but they got to him before he did. Each one of them grabbed one of his arms and held him like a hostage.

"We've got you, thief!" the girl said, "You couldn't get away!"

"Now give me my absol back, loser!" the kid tried to kick Jake's shin, but Jake moved his legs.

"Yeah! And my friend's frogadier!"

"No!" Jake kicked and pulled. "I won't!"

"Reach into his bag, and grab his pokemon," the girl said to the kid.

The kid nodded. With one hand grabbing Jake, he used the other to reach into Jake's bag.

"No!" Jake tried to pull away. "Stop!"

"Hey! Hey! What is going on over here?" An authoritative voice came from the darkness.

A beam of light shone on the three of them. As Jake squinted and tried to see past the light, he saw a blue uniform and the sparkle of a badge—a police officer.

"Help!" Jake said to the officer, "They're trying to take my pokemon!"

"Hey!" The girl pulled Jake's arm. "No we are not!"

"Get off of him and get out of his bag!" the officer commanded.

"But he's a thief!" the girl said, "He stole our pokemon!"

"No, I'm not! They're making stuff up!" Jake put his head down and inhaled. "They're always bullying me like this!"

"He's a thief!"

"Yeah, likely story, kid." the officer said, "The last case of pokemon thievery was almost a century ago. A youngster wouldn't be able to do something like that. Now get off him!"

The kid let go, but the girl held on for a little while longer. Then she pushed him away, crossed her arms, and gave Jake an expression of pure hatred and contempt.

"You two go off, now." the officer said to Jake's victims, "I don't like bullies."

The kid's eyes were wide, and when he turned around he began to sniffle. The girl put an arm around him and assured him that they would get their pokemon back. She shot Jake one last glare. Then they both dissapeared into the night.

"So, you headed to Santalune City?" the officer asked.

"Yeah... yeah, I am," Jake tried to sound like a kid that had been bullied.

"Was it only them two? You'll be good for the rest of the way?"

"I think I'll be fine... if they don't go after me."

"Don't worry—they won't. I'll be here to make sure they don't. You go on your way."

Jake nodded, turned, and headed off. He looked to the ground and shook his head. What had he gotten himself into? Eventually he would be reported, and people will be on the lookout for him. He would be caught, and he can't keep running away forever. But once again, Jake knew that he had to do this because of his phobia.

As Jake stared at dark path, he put his hand to his forehead. His vision tensed, and he got tunnel vision. He felt light-headed and almost fell to his knees. Something came to his mind—an image of a haxorous, and broken glass throughout the air. Then Jake returned to normal. Jake wanted more to come to mind, but his memory would not conjure anything else. This image was Jake's first step to understanding his fear.


End file.
